Railroad tie tamping machine



May 14, 1940. A, WN 2,201,023

' RAILROAD TIE TAMPING MACHINE Filed May 3, 1959 I a IHH I I if 1 4 5a A avvum Patented May 14, 1940 UNITED STATES rATE T OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a ballast working implement.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a ballast working implement commonly referred to as a railroad tie tamper for the purpose of loosening. ballast or tamping the same between and under railroad ties, which is so designed as to be simple in construction, comprising relatively few parts, light in weight, economical and durable in structure and at the same time very efiicient in operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved tamping machine which may be either manually or power operated, which is conveniently handled by the workman and with comparatively little effort, the same being easily manipulated in the various relations and positions in which tampers are required in railway construction and the like.

A further object of this invention relates to the tamping bar of the tamping machine which is provided with a demountable end so as to permit the use of different types of tamping ends as well as replacement thereof.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter. described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A practical embodiment of the invention is 86 illustrated in the accompanying drawing, where- Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of tamping machine.

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing cam operating 40"mechanism and stroke adjusting mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of tamping machine on line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of demountable end of tamping bar.

Referring to the drawing, Ill denotes a twopart casing comprising a lower casing section I! and an upper casing section l2, each provided with abutting flanged ends l3 secured together in any desired manner (not shown). The lower casing section II is provided at its lower end with an externally threaded extension M of reduced diameter, receiving therein a guide bushing I5 held in place by the threaded collar "5, both the bushing and collar being provided with lifi axial openings for the reception of a tamping bar l1, and being further provided respectively with slots l8 and I9 to permit the insertion therethrough of the lug 2|] formed on the end of the tamping bar. The lug acts to prevent dropping out of the tamping bar I1, and in order to limit inward movement of the tamping bar the same may be provided with a pin 2|.

The upper casing section I2 is shaped to provide a cam housing adjacent its upper end. Both the upper end of the casing section I2 and the cam housing 25 are respectively provided with removable closure plates 26 and 21 to permit access to and the assembly of the parts of the machine. On each side wall 28, 29 of the cam housing 25 there is formed a bearing boss 30, each of which rotatably supports an end of a shaft 3|. Fixed to one end of the shaft 3| is an operating handle or crank 32, and rigidly mounted on the shaft 3| within the cam housing 25 is a cam disc 33. Projecting transversely from one face of the cam disc 33 and adjacent the periphery thereof is a cam roller 34 supported on a pin 35 suitably attached to said cam disc.

Arranged within the casing section l2 slightly below the cam housing 25 is a removable guide sleeve 31 through which the impact bar 38 extends for guided reciprocatory movement. Removably secured to the impact bar 38 is a limit stop or collar 40which is adapted to engage a rubber buffer 4! seated on the base 42 of the upper casing section H2. The impact bar 38 extends into the lower casing section II and carries at its lower end an impact head 44 which preferably is of a size as to slidably engage and thus be guided by the wall of the lower casing section H. Surrounding the impact bar 38 is a compression coil spring 45 engaging at its ends the base 42 and impact head 44.

At its upper end, the impact bar 38 is provided with a vertical rectangular slot arranged in an axial plane of the impact bar and extending diametrically thereinto. At each end of the slot 50 there is provided an opening 5| of the same width as the slot which extends from the base of the slot completely thru the remaining portion of 5 the impact bar. Arranged for slidable transverse movement within the slot 50 is a block 52 formed on the lower end of its forward edge 53 with an extension 54 providing a cam face 55, and at the upper and lower ends of its rear edge 50 55 with rearwardly extending guide lugs 51 slidably positioned within the guide openings 5i. Centrally positioned in the wall portion of the impact bar defined by the slot 50 and openings 5| is an adjusting bolt 6| provided with a reduced diameter shank 62 terminating in a flanged head 63 rotatably positioned in a T-shaped slot 64 formed in the rear edge 56 of the block 52. Thus, rotation of the bolt 6! will move the block 52 outwardly or inwardly with reference to the impact bar 38 depending upon the direction the bolt is turned. A look unit 65 is provided to hold the bolt 6! in adjusted position.

The tamping machine operates as follows: Assuming the impact bar 38 is in its lowermost position such as shown in Fig. 2, rotation of the crank 32 in the direction of the arrow will bring the cam roller 34 into engagement with the cam face 55 which engagement upon continued rotation of the cam disc carrying the cam roller will cause the impact bar 38 to be moved upwardly compressing the spring 45. After a predetermined angular movement of the cam disc, the cam roller 34 will ride off of the cam face 55, see dotted line position of parts, Fig. 2, thus releasing the impactbar 38 which .under the action of the highly compressed spring 45 will be forced downwardly and under which force the impact head M will strike theend of the tamping bar H.

The stroke of the impact bar 38 as well as the compression of the coil spring 45 may be varied by an adjustment of the block 52 carrying the cam face 55. Thus, by-moving the block outwardly such as indicated by the dot and dash jposition, see Fig. 2, both the compression of the spring and the stroke of the impact bar is increased, as is readily apparent. In a like manner, the length of the stroke may be decreased by moving the block 52 inwardly. It is to be understood that at all times the spring 45 is brought under .sufiicient compression to provide the necessary impact force requisite for satisfactory tamping operations.

If desired any suitable power means (not .ishown) such as electric motor, air motor, gasolene engine, etc., may be utilized in place of the manually operated means disclosed.

The end of the tamping bar I"! is inclined as at H3 and is provided with a V-shaped extension 72. A tamping end block l2 having a square end 13 is provided with a V-shaped recess 14 adapted to fit over the extension 1|, said end block being secured to the tamping bar by means of a screw 75. Obviously any desired shape may be pro- :vided for the end block to serve various tamping purposes.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to .secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A tamping machine comprising a casing in- ;acluding upper and lower chambers defined by axially spaced partitions, a tamping bar reciprocally mounted in the lower .end of the lower chamber of the casing, an impact bar reciprocallymounted within the lower chamber of the cas- :ing coaxially above thetamping bar and -project.

ing through and beyond .the upper chamber, a spring within said lower chamber adapted to be compressed by the impact bar upon upward movement of the same, means on said impact bar .larranged to engage stop means within said upper chamber to limit downward movement of the impact bar rotating cam means engaging cam face means carried by the upper projecting end of said impact bar, operative to raise and to release the same after a predetermined degree of angular movement thereof, the release of said impact bar being operative to drive the same downwardly under the action of said spring for forceful engagement with the end of the tamping bar.

2. A tamping machine comprising a casing, a

tamping bar reciprocally mounted in the lower end of the casing, an impact bar reciprocally mounted within the casing coaxially above the tamping bar, a spring within said casing adapted to be compressed by the impact bar upon upward movement of the same, rotating cam means engaging cam face means on said impact bar, operative to raise and to release the same after a predetermined degree of angular movement thereof, the release of said impact bar being operative to drive the same downwardly under the action of said spring for forceful engagement with the end of the tamping bar, including manually operative means for rotating said cam means; and said cam face means being laterally adjustable to vary the stroke of said impact bar.

3. A tamping machine comprising a casing including a cam chamber, an intermediate chamber and a lower chamber defined by axially spaced partitions, a tamping bar reciprocally mounted in the lower end of said lower chamber and projecting outwardly thereof, an impact bar reciprocally mounted within said lower chamber coaxially above said tamping bar and projecting through and beyond the intermediate chamber into said cam chamber, an impact head on the lower end of an impact bar, a coil spring surrounding said impact bar engaging said head and the upper Wall of a part of said lower chamber, means on said impact bar arranged to engage stop means within-said intermediate chamher to limit downward movement of the impact bar, a cam disc rotatably mounted in said cam chamber adjacent the upper projecting end portion of said impact bar, a transverse cam roller carried by said cam disc, and a cam block carried by said upper projecting end of the impact bar including a horizontal cam face projecting into the path of rotation of said cam roller and adapted to be engaged by said cam roller during a predetermined degree of rotation thereof for raising and releasing said impact bar, raising of said impact bar-effecting a compression of said spring and release of said impact bar being operative to drive the same downwardly under the action of said spring for forceful engagement with the end of the tamping-bar.

4. A tamping machine comprising a casing, a tamping bar reciprocally mounted in the lower end of said casing and projecting outwardly thereof, an impact bar reciprocally mounted within said casing coaxially above said tamping bar, an impact head on the lower end of the impact bar, a coil spring surrounding'said impact bar engaging said head and a part of said casing, a cam disc rotatably mounted in said casing adjacent the upper end portion of said impact bar, a transverse cam roller carried by said cam disc, and a cam block carried by said upper end of the impact bar including a cam face projecting into the path of rotation of said cam roller and adapted to be engaged by said cam roller during a predetermined degree of rotation thereof for raising and releasing said impact bar, raising of said impact bar affecting a compression of said spring and release of said impact bar being operative to drive the same downwardly under the action of said spring for forceful engagement with the end of the tamping bar wherein said upper projecting end of the impact bar is provided with a slotted recess slidably receiving said cam block, vertically spaced guide openings at the base of said recess, guide lugs extending from the rear of said cam block seated within said guide openings and bolt means extending through the base portion of said recess rotatably connected to said cam block for moving the same inwardly or outwardly of said recess whereby to vary the period of rotative engagement of said cam roller with the cam face of said cam block and to efiect a corresponding decrease or increase in the stroke of said impact bar.

5. The tamping machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein said tamping bar is provided at its lower end with a V-shaped extension, a removable tamping end provided with a corresponding V-shaped end portion adapted to fit over said extension and screw means for securing said end to said extension.

6. The tamping machine as set forth in claim 3, including means for rotating said cam disc, removable cap and sleeve means at the lower end of said casing permitting assembly of said tamping bar therewith, spaced means on said tamping bar limiting movement thereof in either direction, said means on said impact bar comprising a flanged collar and said stop means comprising a rubber bufier seated on the bottom wall of said intermediate chamber.

ALLEN M. BROWN. 

